Nottingham North amongst the worst for literacy need

Local MP Graham Allen renewed his call for systematic Early Intervention as Nottingham’s high levels of illiteracy were revealed “We are treating the symptoms not attacking the causes“ he said. “It is a sad victory for Nottingham North as it has been named as a constituency with the greatest literacy need in East Midlands according to a new report published by the National Literacy Trust (NLT). What the report also uncovered is that Nottingham North is the 8th most deprived area in terms of literacy in England. All Nottingham North wards, apart from one, are in the top 10% in terms of literacy need.”

“Following 20 years of national strategies to address the country’s literacy challenge, new analysis by Experian and the NLT suggests it is now time for a local approach, revealing that the majority of constituencies in England have their own significant literacy issues.

Each constituency and ward was ranked according to a literacy vulnerability score which is based on the social factors mostly associated with low literacy, including income, education and unemployment.”

“We all have to help to tackle the literacy problem in our society. It is deeply troubling that 86% of English constituencies have at least one ward with significant literacy needs. It is even more alarming that all of my wards have the greatest needs with Aspley ranking 6th worst ward in England in literacy need.

“Despite the Government’s recent effort to improve literacy, Nottingham North proves that we can treat all areas the same. Government ought to have a close look on my constituency and why its approach doesn’t work there.

There is a deep intergeneration cycle of deprivation in my patch and without broad approach which will include both private and public sector very little will change in areas like mine. We have known before this report was published that Nottingham North has low levels of literacy, what we need now is a practical solution to this problem.

I will look at the NLT Hub which is a place-based response to tackling low literacy. I hope that we could open such hub in Nottingham and help us to make a long lasting change in the social fabric of Nottingham North.” said Graham Allen MP